Three Ways to Play Ghost in the Graveyard

by Blythe Davenport

I. Traditional

We start when it’s dark with the bright pop of bubble gumin a dish, how many pieces do you wish? One foot in the gravemakes you ghost. II. Flashlight

If the ghost finds you, she swallows your lightand you become a ghost too.III. StorytellerItstarts in with itsresonant voice: I was down by the pondwhen the water started to rise like words in my throat.And all the spirits scurry for the road, piking itto beat the flood. I was standing in the field, a drunk mangulping the words air and escape. Itsfriends’ feet creep back,test each step for dry land as itblows the last of its breath.

[Blythe Davenport is a writer, teacher, and non-profit jane-of-many-trades living in Philadelphia. She teaches at Drexel University and works at the Friends World Committee for Consultation doing communications and administration. Her work has appeared in many literary journals, including Stoneboat Magazine and The Painted Bride Quarterly, and her first book of poetry was published in 2013.]